Permission to do MOB drill

[phodger]

Heard today in the Solent:

Solent coastguard, this is [name withheld]. Requesting permission to carry out man overboard drill in vacinity of East Lepe bouy in position [lat and long given].

[name], this is Solent coastguard. Do you confirm that you wish to carry out man overboard drill in the vacinity of East Lepe bouy in position [lat and long].

Confirmed.

When do intend to carry out the drill?

In 30 minutes.

Within 30 minutes a similar call was made indicating that the drill was about to start. Incidentally this was answered by a different CG person.

Ten minutes after that, a call was made informed CG that the drill was finished.

So, is there now a requirement to get "permission" to do a bucket and fender MOB drill? Is this to be encouraged? My vote says no.

 

[prv]

Definitely no need for permission, and I'm not aware of the MCA having published any advice on the subject.

I wouldn't go broadcasting my intention to throw a bucket over the side, but if I was doing a full-blown exercise involving people in the water, Jon Buoys being launched, etc, then in a populated place like the Solent I would probably inform the CG on ch67 just to prevent any false alarms. Note the distinction between informing them of my intentions and asking for their permission.

The problem of course is that if one person does it, some of those who hear it will think they ought to do the same. And if we did end up with a spate of "permission to chuck a bucket over the side" calls, I don't think the new Fareham Coastguard have the experience to judge that this is silly, nor the confidence to discourage them.

Pete

 

[ronsurf]

I would assume that this involved an actual person in the water which makes it a drill more than an exercise. Which is what we should all do at least once because getting a person out of the water is not easy.

I would notify the coastguard if I was doing a drill with a person.

 

[bitbaltic]

I don't think there's anything wrong with notifying the CG that you're about to do something that a layperson might mistake for the actions of a boat in distress. It's a lot better than the wasted effort and concern that might arise from a false alarm in good faith. Fully agree with Pete it's not about seeking permission but forewarning the CG.

We do MOB practice with a bucket in Cardiff Bay (a lake, so broadly similar to the solent ) if I were to chuck a bucket over the side and start donuting about off, say, Penarth or Barry then I woud call the CG and forewarn them. This is because the Bristol Channel is a less populous sailing area and we are likely to be the only boat on the water at any given time. If we start doing odd things it is more likely, I think, that someone will call the coastgard about it under those circumstances. In the solent there are always lots of yachts doing odd things and you would less likely to be the focus of passer-by attention unless, as Pete says, you have people in the water.

Cheers

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I could only see this being relevant if there was some reason for restrictions to be in place at the area concerned. Personally I would not ask the CG for permission to do any training exercise in my yacht. On more than one occasion I have done multiple drills in a day as well as every day for a week. Imagine school yachts calling in and 'asking for permission', the response on here would be along the lines of 'bloody airwaves are busy enough without all this unnecessary chatter'.

If an individual wants to report what they may think is an incident at sea, they will do so and the coastguard will check it out as they do anyway. The assumption that it is somehow preventing the coastguard from taking it seriously because you have given the CG a position and sought permission is just a red herring. At the very least the CG will make a VHF call to make an enquiry and they might very well launch the LB anyway. You never know, there really could be something up.

I actually I need LadyOldBoots permission, in case she's rustling up something nice down below.